He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has walled up my ways with cut stone; he has made my paths crooked.
- BSB He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.
- ESV he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.
- NKJV He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
- NASB He has blocked my ways with cut stone; He has twisted my paths.
- NLT He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He feels his paths blocked with cut stone and made crooked. It pictures every way forward obstructed by God.
Overview
The sufferer's ways are 'walled up with cut stone' and twisted, so he cannot move ahead or find a straight path. The imagery conveys frustration and entrapment in affliction. The contrast is striking with Christ, who is the way, and who makes the crooked places straight for those who trust him (Isaiah 40:3-4; John 14:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Isa 63:17O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
- Isa 30:28And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
- Hos 2:6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
- Lam 3:11He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 3:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.